Her Serene Highness Princess Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia of Waldeck and Pyrmont (August 2, 1858 - March 20, 1934) was Queen consort of William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. An immensely popular member of the Dutch royal family, she also was Queen regent (1890 - 1898) and Queen Mother (1890 - 1934).

She was born in Arolsen, capital of the small German principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont, on 2 August 1858, a daughter of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and his wife, Princess Helena Wilhelmina Henrietta of Nassau.

Economic and industrial development creates a large industrial working class in the Netherlands. Between 1870 and 1900, this accounts for some 70 per cent of the working population. King William III dies in 1890. His daughter Wilhelmina is too young to succeed him so her mother, Emma, becomes regent. In 1898, at the age of 18, Wilhelmina is invested as queen in Amsterdam.

Economic developments in the Netherlands brought into being a large industrial working class, which comprised some 70 per cent of the working population between 1870 and 1900. The Netherlands benefited from the rapid industrialisation of the German Ruhr: a major factor in the expansion of Rotterdam to become the leading port in Europe. The new industrial working class had little political influence and endured poor living conditions. Poverty was increasingly apparent, notably in the fast growing towns

Well, not much is knwon about the Queen IMHO. Of course we know WHAT she did etc. but not how she felt about it all etc. I don't think any good biography was ever written about her and I haven't read many lettres of her.

I was on a site for the Danish Royal Jewels looking at tiaras and such and came across this interesting lady, so I did a bit of research. I was struck by how young she looked in all the photos I could find--and I discovered that she was 41 years younger than her husband, Willem III. But, his first marriage had been very, very unhappy and by all accounts Queen Emma and he were very happy together. I think its sweet.

__________________Janet

"We make a living by what we do; we make a life by what we give" Winston Churchill

Well, the King was older and more 'tame' and unlike Queen Sophie, Queen Emma knew how to deal with the Kings temper.
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On most pictures Queen Emma seems much older then she actually was, mostly due to her wearing the widow-cap (?) and rather unflattering clothes.

Nel Kars, a Dutch actress has, throughout the years focused on solos on stage, portraying, so far, Queen Sophie, Queen Anna Paulowna and Princess Marianne. Now she has (since October) added Queen Emma to her repertoire. "Koningin Emma, Redster van Oranje" (Queen Emma, saviour of Orange). According to Nel Kars Emma was "a true Orange mother and very loved by the people. The monarchy was shaky when she was appointed Regent [for minor Queen Wilhelmina] after the death of King Willem III, but she succeeded in preventing the fall of the monarchy by means of her popularity. Quite something for a little German 20-years old princess once marrying a 61-years old man."

In this performance Nel Kars also personifies a lady-in-waiting to the Queen: baroness Van Ittersum.

She bases her lines on research she did at Het Loo Palace and The Royal House Archive. The actual text is written by Ton Vorstenbosch, who wrote more "royal plays" (on Emily Bremers, on Wilhelmina, on Juliana).

Kars also makes the costumes herself based on personal research.
(BTW Kars is Knight Order Orange-Nassau.)